England flanker Tom Curry is working to improve his tackling technique in a bid to lower his risk of concussion, the country’s assistant coach Andrew Strawbridge has said.
Curry has suffered five concussions over the past two years — two of which have come this season.
The 26-year-old was knocked out during England’s defeat to Australia when his head collided with Rob Valetini’s knee. Curry has now passed return-to-play protocols and is in line to face Japan in England’s final match of the Autumn Internationals.
“He’s 100% fit, healthy and ready to go,” Strawbridge told The Times. “There is not a coach on the planet that isn’t desperately concerned about the welfare of the players they coach.
“He’s been through every protocol that exists and we’re making some finer adjustments about how he enters contact — both sides of the ball — to keep himself safe.
“There are some fundamental aspects to contact. Some of the bravest men are some of the most at risk, so how do we mitigate the risk? How do we keep him finding his shoulder, rather than a head? Tiny little things, it’s not a major change in a man’s game. There are some little issues that’ll bring his shoulder into the game, which is what we all want, and take his head out of the game, if possible. There’s no major issue at all.
“He’s a very brave player. The game’s about what you can see — and it’s not what you can see there [in front of you] but what you can see there [to the side], so it’s how we can react. Can we get things to happen on a subconscious level, without any thought?”
Meanwhile, England prop Dan Cole has said head coach Steve Borthwick is the “f—— right man for the job” with the team on a run of five consecutive defeats.
England, who are in the process of bringing through some talented young players into their side, have failed to win any of their first three fixtures in the Autumn Internationals, having repeatedly got themselves into position to win before failing to get over the line.
Cole dismissed the notion that some of the relative inexperience within the England squad is behind the poor results.
“Steve [Borthwick] said it after the game that we’re maybe hiding behind our … Maybe we’re hiding behind that kind of experience. We’re using it as an excuse to be like, as players, and maybe as a wider group, that, you know, ‘Oh yeah, we’re inexperienced compared to others’. But actually international rugby doesn’t care if you’ve got one cap, 100 caps, 500 caps, you’re on a level playing field and you have to win games of rugby and convert chances, Cole told former teammate Ben Youngs on the pair’s “For The Love of Rugby” podcast.
“But yes, there is a frustration, and I think it is, having read some of the papers, flicked through my phone online the past couple of days, there’s a frustration around … Like Steve, I think after the game had to answer, ‘Oh, is he the right man for the job?’
“Yes, he’s the f—— right man for the job. We’ve lost, is it five now on the bounce? But it’s like A: we’ve played New Zealand twice away, France away, South Africa at home. Yes, we should have beaten Australia, that’s probably the one big anomaly.
“Leading into our streak, we had a World Cup semi-final, where we lost out by a point.”
England face Japan at the Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Sunday.
Further reading:
– England’s Freddie Steward says blame players for losses
– Autumn rugby internationals: Judging overreactions from Week 3
– Autumn rugby union international fixtures 2024